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Robert LaLonde
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Well the little 4x6 has had multiple failures in the last few months. I burned up a motor, chowdered a worm gear, and now the special little Harbor Freight power switch has failed. Each failure seemed to come at a time when it did the most damage to my productivity. I can't complain though. I've had the saw for years and I've been using it every single day for the last couple. I'd say I've gotten atleast five years of light commercial use out of it. That's far more than I ever expected to get out of it.
I had a deal offered on a nice 7x12 from Precision Mathews, but by the time I got around to buying it they had sold that one and are out of stock for another 6-8 weeks. I looked at Grizzly and it looks nice. Similar price to Precision Mathews, but I've heard a few claims that Grizzly QC may be slipping the last year or two. I thought about Harbor Freight again. I know they stock the little 4x6 locally, but I have not seen a larger saw on the floor in years. Still I thought if I can get five years daily use out of a bigger one it would do. I checked the price on-line and chased down a current coupon code for 20% off. I was just about to order one on-line and I decided to call the store to see if they had one. They had two. That would cost me an extra $20 in city sales tax on top of the state sales tax, but save me $90 freight and I'd have it today. (yesterday)
At the store it was a bit of a chore to get the saw out of a conex box, but the box/crate came out intact.
When I uncrated the saw back at the shop I was very pleasantly surprised. Its quite a lot better built than the smaller saw, has a coolant tank with pump if I want to run it, and of course has the pneumatic feed control for cutting thin wall tube. I have to say its the best built Harbor Freight tool I have seen in a long time. The first thing I did after getting it setup was throw a piece of 2" EMT in the saw, set the pneumatic feed, and watch it slice off the end. Oh, was that nice. I hardly even heard a change in pitch as it transitioned from the wide entry cut to cutting the thin sidewalls.
As much work and headache as the smaller saw has saved me this one will save me even more.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-hp-7-inch-x-12-inch-hydraulic-feed-metal-cutting-bandsaw-97009.html
I had a deal offered on a nice 7x12 from Precision Mathews, but by the time I got around to buying it they had sold that one and are out of stock for another 6-8 weeks. I looked at Grizzly and it looks nice. Similar price to Precision Mathews, but I've heard a few claims that Grizzly QC may be slipping the last year or two. I thought about Harbor Freight again. I know they stock the little 4x6 locally, but I have not seen a larger saw on the floor in years. Still I thought if I can get five years daily use out of a bigger one it would do. I checked the price on-line and chased down a current coupon code for 20% off. I was just about to order one on-line and I decided to call the store to see if they had one. They had two. That would cost me an extra $20 in city sales tax on top of the state sales tax, but save me $90 freight and I'd have it today. (yesterday)
At the store it was a bit of a chore to get the saw out of a conex box, but the box/crate came out intact.
When I uncrated the saw back at the shop I was very pleasantly surprised. Its quite a lot better built than the smaller saw, has a coolant tank with pump if I want to run it, and of course has the pneumatic feed control for cutting thin wall tube. I have to say its the best built Harbor Freight tool I have seen in a long time. The first thing I did after getting it setup was throw a piece of 2" EMT in the saw, set the pneumatic feed, and watch it slice off the end. Oh, was that nice. I hardly even heard a change in pitch as it transitioned from the wide entry cut to cutting the thin sidewalls.
As much work and headache as the smaller saw has saved me this one will save me even more.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-hp-7-inch-x-12-inch-hydraulic-feed-metal-cutting-bandsaw-97009.html
